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Runaway

Well before Christmas, Jen and I were on the phone, and we were talking about Jen’s latest placement. She’s in her third year midwifery, and one of her student placements is up north. (Not that far north, the Near North. That’s actually the name of the region, to tell it from the Far North or the Arctic, which of course would be the North North. This is Canada. We’re almost entirely made up of North – we’ve got a lot of ways to describe it.) She asked if I would come visit during the month that she lived up there, and I said that I would, but I wasn’t sure if I would. I mean, I thought I would like to, but she hadn’t come up here yet and she didn’t know what it would be like yet or if she would be busy or if the little cabin she rented would have two coffee cups or… You know. It seemed to me like there needed to be details.

Well, fast forward to last week and Jen’s been two weeks living by herself in a little cabin in the woods with a hot plate and no bathtub, studying at a midwifery practice and keeping weird hours, and she was starting to sound a little bit weird. When the internet crapped out and she lost that lifeline to the outside world, I firmed up my plans.

Yesterday I packed up heaps of knitting, pulled together a menu I think I can serve off of a hot plate, and headed out the door. I arrived yesterday, and while Jen’s on call and so we can’t stray far, we we’ve set ourselves an ambitious agenda of hiking, eating, knitting and tea drinking.

The weather is perfect, cold, but not too cold, wintry but not vicious, and we are made for adventure.

95 thoughts on “Runaway”

I will say that “wintry but not vicious” is a great descriptor. I’m not a fan of winter in the first place, but in Boston this season we’ve gone into “vicious” territory a few times, and there really is a difference! Winter I can stand (kind of), but vicious makes me really glad I’m moving south this year.

Bwahahahahaha that’s a very funny last photo. I’m charmed!
I hope you two dear friends have a wonderful weekend together. As someone who’s preparing for her fourth homebirth, midwives have a special place in my heart–hurray for Jen joining their glorious ranks.

you and sooooooooooooo lucky. I’ve been thinking I really need a weekend. I would settle for a weekend made up of knitting, reading, writing friends, of course drinking tea! and walking through all the snow, . I will enjoy it vicariously through you as always! Have a fun and relaxing time. That yarn bowl is one of a kind!

Love the yarn bowl. Hugs to Jen from her blog-friends: I remember how intense a month of Uni placement (as a high school teacher) was pre-kids for me, so WOW is all I can say to placement as a mum. Hang in there, Jen.

Stephanie, I read your blog often but don’t comment much, but I have to tell you, I think this is my favorite post of yours ever! Beautiful scenery (I’m quite jealous, actually) and best. yarn. bowl. ever!

Once upon a time in my life I lived where it snowed a lot (75″ in 17 days at one point), when my husband was traveling on business a lot, and I had a toddler and a baby who was ill a lot and slept very little. It was one of the loneliest times in my life. So reading your “she was starting to sound a little bit weird,” that time when someone simply needs a friend and needs the friend there–and you came. I cannot tell you how grateful I am for that. It’s like you were rescuing the long-ago me as well as being there for Jen. Thank you.

Gorgeous landscape. And that yarn bowl–! That is absolutely hysterical!

It might say something about the day I’ve had that it didn’t occur to me to come check the blog when I saw the pelvis yarn bowl. I just smiled, thought there must be a wonderful little story in your crazy life, and figured you’d share what happened sometime. Turns out this is where you do that :). I feel like this is the sort of trip that could do with a reading of Knitters Almanac. Thanks for looking out for Jen while she looks out for the new families.

That is quite the yarn bowl LOL. Glad you were able to go and visit Jen as she must have found it very lonely up there. Hope you are both having a nice time. Are you further north than Sudbury? Be safe, keep warm and have a great trip.

Weather’s been nice the past few days. (I live in the zone that, in Canadian terms, would be north of the Soo, south of Thunder Bay — on an island in Lake Superior). Snow storm is coming, tho. We’re supposed to get another foot, foot and a half overnight. That’s mostly lake effect tho.
My point is… don’t get snowed in. You probably didn’t bring enough yarn for the entire winter.

Only a Canadian could say perfect weather, cold but not too cold, accompanied by a picture of someone up to their knees in snow! What a great country! (I live in England. We don’t have weather, despite being obsessed by it. Today, we have sleet. Cold and wet enough to be deeply unpleasant, but not cold enough to be pretty or fun (or, I suppose dangerous) in any way. Typical!)

Looks beautiful there! I like how you describe weather as vicious or not… We had a vicious late December, so probably did you. Did you consider a crock pot? If you can plug in a hot plate, a crock pot might give more options. Have fun! I need to learn to snowshoe…

We’ve had some just above zero days the past couple of weeks here in Kansas, but after reading your post I’m going to quit complaining. I have to wonder how you got there — by dogsled? Fortunately, many yarns do not weight much, so I hope you were able to take enough.

And here’s another kitty scared when her momma let out a howl of laughter – what an ingenious yarn bowl! I may have to hunt for one of those. I know where a college went out of business and some of their science lab stuff has been showing up on Craig’s list …

You are a solid gold friend, Stephanie. I have a friend like you and she literally saved my life one time. I hope you both have a blast, get a lot of knitting done, and it all makes her studies that much more enjoyable.